EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. >> Head coach Jeff Fisher and offensive coordinator Rob Boras both did double takes upon looking at the stat sheets after the Rams’ loss to the New York Giants three weeks ago. The hard-nosed, grind it out run team they’ve envisioned and preached about for their Rams had thrown the ball 53 times.

Not in a wild, back-and-forth shootout against the Giants, mind you. But rather a close, low-scoring 17-10 game you’d figure was right up the Rams’ preferred style ally.

“I was as surprised as anyone,” said Boras, who seemed genuinely astounded the Rams had strayed so far away from their ball-control, run-game comfort zone to become something more like a bombs away passing team.

To disastrous results, no less. Of Case Keenum’s 53 throws, four ended up in the hands of the Giants and one went back the other way for a touchdown.

But small sample sizes being what they are, and the insistence of Fisher and Boras to immediately return the Rams back to their home base with Todd Gurley anchoring the run game and Keenum managing things at quarterback, it was easy to chalk up the Giants game to just one of those days.

Only for the Rams to return from the bye week chucking it up another 46 times against the Carolina Panthers while handing it to Gurley a perplexing and season-low 12 times.

In a 13-10 loss, not some high-scoring shootout.

Fool me once and it’s on me. But twice?

And for Fisher, the response of surprise after studying the Giants box score was more along the lines of angered confusion after the Panthers game.

He didn’t need a mathematician to point out the Rams had thrown the ball 99 times over the last two games while feeding Gurley only 27. That’s a pass-run ratio that sent shivers down the back of a coach who hangs his hat on efficient, ball-control offenses that deliberately move the ball downfield.

And it’s not sustainable for a Rams team built to do anything but fling the ball all around the field. They hope to address the puzzling trend against the New York Jets today as they try to break a frustrating four-game losing streak and put themselves back on course for potential playoff contention.

“You want to be 50/50,” Fisher said.

That isn’t just a reminder, it’s a mandate.

“It’s a mindset, you have to stay with it. I think (it’s) everybody’s philosophy, but ours is it’s going to be hard early, you may break one here or there, but those two-and-a-half to three-yard runs in the first quarter, you’d like to think will turn into the seven-to-10-yard runs in the fourth quarter.”

Rest assured, Fisher and Boras, his first-year offensive coordinator, had some pointed conversations about a numbers game that’s gone absurdly askew the last few weeks.

“Coach (Fisher) and I have had conversations,” Boras said. “I know what the numbers are.”

And he vows to get it back on track.

The success of the Rams essentially depends on it. The longer they masquerade as a wanna be pass team the further they get away from who they really are the harder it is to win football games.

“We’ve got to do a better job, we recognize that,” Fisher said.

That’s all well and good. But it does nothing to address the bid elephant in the room.

The Rams haven’t just crossed over to the other side willingly.

Fact is, they almost have no choice.

The Gurley-led run game they were so eager to build themselves around never made the trip from St. Louis to Los Angeles. With an offensive line grading out among the worst in the league, a passing game that strikes little fear in opponents and Gurley consistently peeking ahead to the line of scrimmage and seeing nine and 10-man wall, the Rams running attack has completely nose dived.

And it’s created a vicious cycle in which either Gurley gets stuffed or a pass goes awry or for short yardage early in counts, forcing too many long-distance situations in late counts that require pass plays to cover.

But with the Rams not built for second and third and longs, the three and outs pile up – putting the defense on the field far too often and draining their strength as a result – and the total plays from scrimmage plummet.

“Part of that again is staying on the field, and sustaining some drives, and eliminating three-and-outs, and that’s obviously a stress what we’re trying to get done.” Boras said.

Doesn’t help the defense hasn’t been creating turnovers — or consistently getting teams off the field on third downs — which further lessons the Rams amount of offensive plays.

“Again, it’s a three-phase thing — one turnover in three weeks, if we get a couple of turnovers a game defensively, and things are different, those are more opportunities for our offense,” Fisher said

If not, it all goes in the wrong direction.

And when play counts diminish, so too do Gurley’s carries.

The Rams fall behind, and feel the need to throw to make up ground.

And without leads to protect, the time consuming legs of Gurley are essentially eliminated from consideration.

Worse, the fewer touches Gurley gets the less chance he can settle in and begin wearing down the defense by breaking off big-chunk yardage and first downs. A worn down defense is also more susceptible to giving up long Gurley runs to the house.

“For any runner, and especially a guy like Todd and/or (RB) Benny (Cunningham), it’s the more carries they’re going to get, that the more that they’re going to settle in,” Boras said. “Not only as a runner, but as the blockers – the O-line, the tight ends, and the fullback if that be the case.”

Meanwhile, Gurley just keeps biding his time.

“Obviously being a running back, you want the ball,” he said, repeating the same thing he’s said almost from the beginning of the season.

Vicious cycle indeed.

No wonder then, the Rams again find themselves on the fringe of playoff contention.

Thing is, they’ll never find their way back unless they get back to their roots.

But as they’ve shown, it’s more than just wanting to or talking about it.

Vincent Bonsignore is an NFL columnist for the Southern California News Group. Having covered the Los Angeles sports scene for more than two decades, Bonsignore has emerged as one of the leading voices on the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers, the NFL and NFL relocation.

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